January record breaker? Snow way

Monday

Hornell, Wellsville region get big chill, but no records fall in month

When it came to January's weather, Steuben shoveled and Allegany shivered — but neither county stormed the way into the record books.

More than a foot and a half of snow fell on the Maple City in January, according to the National Weather Service’s Almond Dam measuring station, topping Hornell’s average for the month by nearly three inches but falling far short of a January record for the city.

Meanwhile in Allegany County, the towns of Wellsville and Angelica experienced below average snowfalls for the month, but it was colder overall than average for January in both places, Weather Service data shows.

Spotters at the Almond Dam reported 18.1 inches of the white stuff fell last month at the site. On average, Hornell receives 15.2 inches of snow during the first month of the year, a Binghamton-based National Weather Service forecaster said. January is usually Hornell’s snowiest month, with February coming in second with an average of 13.8 inches, just ahead of December’s average of 13.5.

There have been some wide fluctuations for Hornell January snowfall in just the last two decades, according to the Weather Service. The record January snowfall for Hornell is 27.5 inches, which was recorded in 2015. The lowest recorded snowfall for the month occurred in 2006 when only 3.5 inches fell. Over the last ten years, Hornell has averaged approximately 15 inches of snowfall in January.

Hornell got some chill along with the snow. At the Almond Dam station, the average temperature for the month was 19.3, about two degrees colder than January’s average historically, 21.5.

A thirty minute drive from the Almond Dam to Avoca signaled the difference of several inches of snow in January. The National Weather Station there recorded 11.1 inches of snow during the month, seven inches less than Hornell. On average, Avoca receives 9 inches of snow in January.

Avoca had warmer climbs, with a January temp of 26.1 degrees last month. The Avoca area’s average January temperature is 26.5.

Angelica and Wellsville were about the cold, not the white stuff, last month.

Wellsville received 13.7 inches of snow last month, while the average temperature was 20.4. Wellsville’s snowfall average for January is 14.5 inches and its average temperature is more than a degree higher than this year — 21.7.

Back in 2005, 31 inches of snow fell on Wellsville during January, and then in 2006, there were only 4.3 inches of snowfall measured.

As far as coldest and warmest Januaries go for Wellsville, the coldest was an average of 14.3 degrees in 2009, and the warmest was 30.7 in 2006.

Angelica’s snowfall last month fell nearly four inches below average, with a total of 14.7 inches falling compared to the town’s average January snowfall of 18.2. Angelica’s average temperature last month was 20.7 degrees. The average January temperature in the town is 21.9.

Some other January snowfall totals for the area:

Alfred: 13.5 inches

Dansville: 11 inches

Rushford: 20.7 inches

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